Every year, the [University of Houston Law Center's Blakely Advocacy Institute] identifies the top schools using a scoring method that assesses the quality of the competition a school participated in, the size of the competitions, and the school's performance in those competitions. The institute then invites the top 16 from the prior year to participate in what it calls "the best of the best" — the Andrews Kurth Moot Court National Championship. Last year, Georgetown University Law Center won the competition.

Only two schools in the moot court top 20 — Georgetown University Law Center and Columbia University — are ranked high by U.S. News & World. But while litigator can come from almost any law school, it takes a school that invests in moot court programs and experiential education to do well in moot court.